Inhabited
by McDumbles
Summary: Regina has realized there is something off about Henry. Suspecting the truth, she keeps it a secret until she can decide how best to handle the situation. One shot. Dark Regal Believer.


Summary: Regina has realized there is something off about Henry. She suspects that the spirit of another child has taken over him, and she has kept this a secret until she can decide how best to handle the situation. Is the spirit benevolent or has it been hiding sinister plans? One shot_._ Regal Believer**.**

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**~ Inhabited ~**

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It had been two weeks since Regina had noticed there was something off about her son. Two weeks since she had realized that the boy she had taken care of and loved for twelve years, was no longer the same person.

Regina's heart was thumping fearfully in her chest. She didn't know how to confront him and she was nervous about how he would react once she did, but she knew it was time. Even if she didn't completely want to do it for herself, she had to do it for Henry.

He was currently sitting on the couch beside her in the living room. On the coffee table in front of him was an empty plate of what had been a piece of homemade apple pie, and he was currently finishing off the last of his hot cocoa. He didn't seem to notice his mother watching him from the corner of her eye as he continued to watch the movie on the television in front of them.

"Would you like another slice of pie?" Regina asked him, trying to stall herself as long as possible.

Henry briefly took his eyes off of the screen. "Can I have another piece later? I'm a little full right now."

"Of course sweetheart." She gave a small, kind smile. "I'm glad you liked it."

"I loved it! Thank you." Henry smiled back at her. He hugged her briefly before returning his attention to the movie.

Regina's smile quickly fell and she wrapped her arms around herself as she watched him. She wished there was another way. Despite everything, he had chosen _her _to be his new mother. She could tell he liked having her near him, and if she was being honest with herself, it felt quite nice to be wanted again in return. At the same time however, she had a duty as a mother, and she would never let anyone –or anything– try to replace Henry.

"I know you're not my son." She finally forced herself to whisper.

Henry broke his attention away from the television in surprise. He stared at her wide-eyed for a few moments. "What do you mean?" He asked. His expression was full of concern, but not for himself, for her.

_He's a good actor._ Regina thought to herself.

"I know you're not Henry. I've known from the start." Regina internally winced upon hearing the shakiness of her own voice.

"Mom why are you saying these things?" Henry asked, his voice was quivering and his eyes were shining with fearful tears. "Of course I'm me."

Regina shook her head, blinking back tears of her own. She looked away from him. "A mother always knows…" She replied softly. She swallowed down her emotions. "I just need to know one thing. Is… is Henry okay?" She turned her gaze desperately towards him again, looking him over. "Is he… still in there somewhere?"

"Mom, I am Henry." The boy insisted.

Regina shook her head again. "I'm sorry but you're _not_." She whispered. A few tears were streaming down her cheeks now but she ignored them. "Listen," she said, forcing her voice to sound a little stronger. "I'm not angry with you… I know you must have been feeling so… so… _alone_, to feel that your only option was to take over the body of another child but… I need to know that my own boy is still safe."

The boy's eyes were still wide but now he looked guilty, ashamed. After a few moments his head hung forward in defeat, and Regina felt her heart break as she heard the boy sniffle.

"I'm sorry." He said in a small voice. He wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve before looking up at her again. "How did you know?"

Regina pressed her lips together, trying not to let her emotions slip further out of control. "Like I said, a mother always knows." She mumbled. "Henry never hugs me good morning. He never wishes me a good night. He used to but not anymore. He doesn't like to spend time with me like you do… and he _never_ would have eaten an apple pie that was baked by me."

"Wh-what?" The boy asked in confusion.

"I've been studying you for a few weeks now. You've done a very good job pretending to be him… and I think you have access to most of his memories. You've even perfected his mannerisms and habits. But I think…" She breathed a heavy sigh, looking away from him again. "I think the reason you chose Henry was because…" She bit her lip

uncharacteristically, chancing a sideways glance back at him. "Because of me?"

The look on Henry's face told her she was correct. Regina placed a gentle hand on his knee. "What's your name?" She asked gently. She was still scared out of her mind, but she didn't want whatever was possessing Henry to know that. The boy didn't respond.

"May I ask how old you are?" She tried instead.

"Twelve."

"No, not how old Henry is. How old are _you?"_

Henry shifted nervously in his seat. "Nine."

Regina nodded softly, as if his answer had confirmed some suspicion she'd had. "I thought you might be younger."

The boy still looked uncertain.

Regina tried to give him her most sympathetic smile. "You know you can't stay here right? Henry needs to have his body back."

Without warning, the boy leapt to his feet angrily. "Why?!" He shouted, startling her.

Regina stared at him open-mouthed for a few beats, before she was able to regain her composure. "Because he has his own life to live." She said, trying to hide how shaken she suddenly was.

"He doesn't deserve to live here. He doesn't deserve to have a family he doesn't care about!" The boy argued. "I deserve to live a full life too don't I?"

Regina blinked back more tears. "If you are what I suspect you are then your life ended some time ago. I don't know _who_ you are, and I am sorry that your life was taken from you, but I need you to let my son go now."

"I can be your son." The boy said with a suddenly pleading look in his eyes as he moved closer to her on the couch and squeezed her hand. "I can be _better _than your son. I need you more than he does. I love you more than he does. He doesn't care about you! I know it's true because I know everything he thinks. He's still in here…" the boy pointed to his head, "he's just been pushed to the back of my mind."

"_His_ mind." Regina corrected, "Nothing about this body is yours." She tried to ignore the stab of hurt she felt at his words. She knew he was just trying to manipulate her feelings but perhaps there was a sliver of truth. After all, she and Henry did have a somewhat rocky history.

"This body became mine when Henry let me take over it." The boy argued.

"How _did_ you do it?" Regina asked curiously. She had heard of phenomenons such as this occurring before, but never had she come across something like this happening in real life. At least, not that she was aware of.

"One night when Henry was asleep he let his mind wander just a bit too far. I was able to get through before he woke up, and ever since, Henry has been trapped."

Regina felt a bit ill but she didn't say anything. She unwittingly allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts. Was Henry still conscious? Was he afraid? Did he know he was being controlled?

After a few minutes, Henry's small, familiar voice broke through her thoughts. "Mom?"

Regina turned her head further away from him. Why couldn't he be a dangerous and vengeful spirit? If he were, then she would have been able to banish him from the very beginning, and with a lot less guilt. "Please, I need my son back. Henry is all I have left."

There were distraught tears streaming down the boy's face now. "I thought you were different. I thought you would accept me, but you're just like **her!**"

Regina was shocked. "Who are you talking about?"

"My own mother never wanted me either."

"Oh, sweetheart I'm sure that's not true."

"If it's not true then why did she send me away? She's the reason I ended up like this in the first place!"

Regina's blood ran cold upon hearing that. "You died because of something your mother did?" She asked gently for clarification.

"I died because she didn't want me anymore." He responded tearfully.

Regina's breath was caught in her throat. "There must be more to the story…" she tried to reason. "The things adults do don't always make sense to children; you see the world in a much different way than we do… but I'm sure your mother loved you very much. And whatever happened, whatever she did, I'm sure she only had your wellbeing in mind. Whatever happened to you was most likely far beyond her control."

The boy simply stood there, crying, not saying anything more.

"Do you mind my asking what did happen to you?" She asked, reaching out cautiously to touch a comforting hand to his arm.

He looked at her with tear-stained cheeks. "If I tell you… will you let me stay?"

Regina gave a disheartened sigh. "I would have no problem with you staying if you weren't in someone else's body. The best I can do is to help you move on from this world, but you have to promise me that if I do, Henry will be safe."

"Henry will be safe if you let me stay." He answered a little dangerously.

Regina felt the ice creeping through her veins again. "But he can't live out the rest of his days trapped in the back of his own mind." She said cautiously, her voice was gaining a slight hint of hysteria. Maybe this ghost (or whatever it was) wasn't as sweet and innocent as Regina had originally believed.

The boy's lips pouted and his eyebrows knitted together angrily. She had seen this expression on her son's face dozens of times before.

"If you don't want me, then you can't have Henry either!" The boy shouted, unceremoniously running from the room.

Regina was too stunned to move. It took her a few moments before she was able to force herself to follow him.

"Henry?" She called in sudden panic. She couldn't allow whatever was controlling her son to hurt him. She needed to get to him, she would fix this somehow. How could she have let herself be so stupid?

She thought she had heard him heading for the kitchen so she went in that direction first. As she approached it she could hear him moving things around on the counter, but once she reached the doorway the room was empty.

Regina stood frozen to the spot. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as she fought for breath, staring as if in a daze at the kitchen before her. Something didn't seem right… something was missing. She scanned the room, and her eyes flicked to the apple pie. She realized with a horrible sinking feeling that the knife she had used to serve it was missing.

"_No."_ She whispered, feeling her heart constrict in her chest. She didn't know if the child planned to use the weapon on her, or on her son, but she didn't want to wait long enough to find out.

She screamed Henry's name, racing from the room to try to find the boy before it was too late.

Regina was halfway up the spiral staircase that led to the second floor when she found him standing at the top of the stairs. She froze once more, staring at him, pleading at him with her eyes.

The boy was holding the knife in one hand, and Regina was surprised to see her cell-phone in the other.

"Henry…" She whispered, not able to move any further.

"My mom is trying to kill me," the boy whimpered into the phone. "Please hurry."

The boy whipped the phone down at her before turning and fleeing from view. Regina cried out in surprise and raised her arms to protect her head. Her foot slipped from the step and she fell, tumbling a quarter-ways down the staircase before she was able to catch herself.

The boy meanwhile, had disappeared into one of the second floor rooms.

Gritting her teeth in pain, Regina pulled herself up and reached for the phone which had landed several steps above her. Her face was ashen and she was trembling uncontrollably. One glance at the screen told her that the call was still connected. She raised the phone to her ear.

"_Please," _she begged in a broken voice._ "I need your help."_

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**_A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Please review and let me know what you think! I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween. Take care xx _**


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